You have the option to either expense the computer or claim depreciation. Both result in a full deduction of the cost to your business.
Since you know you used the computer for other purposes, you should allocate the total cost based on the months you used it for business. For instance, if you worked as an independent contractor for six months, then used the computer for personal projects for the rest of the year, you would claim only half (6/12) of the cost for the business.
While the result of both options is a full deduction this year, expensing the cost has a definite advantage. Generally if you have taken Section 179 Deduction for an asset, and then dispose of that asset before the end of its useful life (5 years for computers), you may be subject to Depreciation Recapture. This means you would pay taxes on the depreciation you claimed in the past.
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